Chapter 121: The Sacrificial Lambs
The mothers, desperate and weary, hoisted their children onto their backs — the youngest barely nine — and stumbled toward the Sentro’s towering gates. Their trembling legs wobbled as the burden at their backs pressed down on them, while the other villagers watched helplessly.
Briella pursed her lips. She was done for. She did not understand how the situation became like that. It must be those two soldiers messing up with them. Should she escape? The mayor would not give her another chance.
She shouted to the women to come back. Her voice became hoarse, but the mothers continued to move toward the walled fortress.
Suddenly, a long, high-pitched blare pierced the air. The first trumpet sounded. It echoed from the North, cutting through the crowd’s murmurs. Then came the second, from the West, and a third from the East, each sound sharper than the last. The villagers froze.
It was a signal. Estalis soldiers had attacked.
The Northem soldiers’ camp sat nestled in the Gwamuros plains between the shadows of Mount Roca and Mount Marnubes. It was far enough from the base of the mountains to prevent an ambush but close enough for the echoes of the trumpets to bounce off the cliffs, making the signal feel like it came from all directions.
Over five thousand protesting villagers stood trembling before the Northem forces, their plan to push forward crumbling under the weight of fear.
Panic surged like a tide. The crowd surged toward the Sentro, their only hope for safety lying behind its mighty gates — but salvation did not await them there. Instead, the ground quaked beneath the thunderous beat of hooves. The Estalis cavalry burst forth from the gates in a storm of steel and fury.
Briella, who was standing in the middle of chaos, froze. Her breath hitched, eyes wide with disbelief. "No... they’re not supposed to attack from there." The plan had been clear — the Estalis and Zura forces were to flank from the sides and attack from the rear, leaving the front open as a distraction. But the mayor and the commanders had betrayed them.